THE LUCERNE BELT 177 



to the southern limit of the Nueve de Julio and Pehuajo 

 departments, and as far as the latitude of Guamini. 

 The limit of the lucerne farms does not include the 

 lands of the central Pampa, but advances westward 

 and takes in part of the Pedernera department in the 

 San Luis province. The lucerne farms run along the 

 San Rafael line to Batavia, and at this point they reach 

 the limits of the colonized zone. In addition, the zone 

 of the lucerne farms includes the whole south-eastern 

 part of the Cordoba province, as high up as the line 

 from Villa Mercedes to Villa Maria, and the southern 

 part of the Santa Fe province. In the whole of 

 this area, fifteen to twenty-five per cent, of the 

 surface is planted with lucerne. The conditions required 

 for its cultivation are a moderate depth of the under- 

 ground water and a light soil that allows the roots 

 to penetrate easily. The eastern belt of clays is not 

 good for lucerne, which survives there for much less 

 time than in the west, where it may live fifteen or 

 twenty years. 



The lucerne belt is above all a great breeding area 

 for horned cattle, as sheep-pasturage injures the lucerne. 

 It is not nearly so monotonous, however, as the pre- 

 ceding regions. In the south-east, in the Buenos Aires 

 province, the creation of the lucerne farms was under- 

 taken at a time when agricultural colonization had 

 already begun. We therefore find two types of exploita- 

 tion side by side. The cultivation of maize enters it 

 in the south-west, in spite of the comparatively un- 

 favourable climatic conditions. The centre of the 

 lucerne area in the south of the Cordoba province 

 is also a great agricultural zone ; but there agriculture 

 is directly connected with the creation of the lucerne 

 estates. It is, in fact, entrusted to colonists who till 

 the ground for four or five years, and restore it to the 

 owners sown with lucerne at the expiration of their 

 lease. The crops consist almost exclusively of wheat 

 and flax. Lastly, in the west (San Luis province 



12 



